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arikol
Reviews
John Wick (2014)
Action scenes!
Keanu Reeves is absolutely solid, as is everyone else. The action scenes are among the best I've ever seen. Stylised, but realistic. John Wick, the character, is insanely good and insanely tough, but not in an effortless way. That makes it seem more real.
The grittiness of the action scenes also adds to them.
Choreography is brilliant, cinematography is beautiful. These action scenes have a clear "flow", i.e. don't degenerate into a collection of fast moving extreme close-ups. The storytelling may be simple, but extremely well done in a visual way. All exposition scenes are visual and most contain little or no dialogue.
So I liked this one!
Iron Sky (2012)
Silly, silly movie.
As my title states, this is indeed a silly movie. To start with: if you are American (of the USA persuasion) with fierce national pride and little ability to take criticism or a joke then save your money and don't see this movie. Same goes if you are a Nazi on a moon base, you won't like how the movie makes fun of your ideals. Everyone else, read on.
I thought it was fun, lots of references to other works for the geekier among us to enjoy, and excellent production values (you know, for a B movie. Let's never forget that this IS a B movie). The script, particularly the dialogue, was sometimes a little thin, but fine for this k ind of movie.
The stereotypes used were generally played with in an enjoyable manner with some minor reversals and such, while others were played straight up crazy (including any politicians portrayed, with the US politicians being the worst of a bad lot. Funnily, the other politicians looked sane, right up until the big scene at the UN...). The ending, well, that was my sort of ending. It fit in with the rest of the movie, simple enough to say.
The soundtrack... oh yes, the soundtrack... Parts of the soundtrack are quite standard-ish. Even those bits have a little bit of rough strangeness that you usually don't hear. The standout tracks are truly superb. The song "America" is just beautiful, as is the final song, "Under The Iron Sky" and a few others. The soundtrack is by the Slovenian band Laibach, and they are brilliant (if you like really strange artistic anti-military music with a seriously military sound. Kind of like a more artistic Rammstein).
Good work by Vuorensola and his crew (Vuorensola and Torssonen and all the others: PLEASE get more money to do more films. Keep it (silly/weird/crazy)!)
This is up there with Dead Snow, Dog Soldiers, and other such masterpieces of strangeness (and comparatively low budgets for their respective genres).
Det sjunde inseglet (1957)
Simple, slow, brilliant
I just saw this film for the first time, and was amazed at how good it is.
This is not a Michael Bay film. There are no explosions, and really no action. Yet it is powerful. Much more powerful, in fact, than most loud and violent films.
There are many strong and emotionally laden scenes in the film, but the "witch" burning scene and Antonius' reaction there was particularly strong. It was as if he had seen the futility of intervention with death on his heels, yet couldn't quite stop himself from doing something.
All those little moments..
Von Sydow is simply amazing, as is all the main cast, strong script, beautiful cinematography, and a very effective use of sound and music (as minimalistic and bleak as everything else in the film).
The sad part is that if this film had been released today it would be seen by a handful of movie enthusiasts and would never get a wide audience. Instead people pay to see Transformers 3.
Quantum of Solace (2008)
Did some of you see the same film as I?
While I think Casino Royale was a bit better I would still count QoS as one of the best Bond films.
Complaints first: Action direction. I don't like the ultra fast editing of the action sequences and think Casino Royales style was much nicer to look at. This felt too much like Bourne (as has been noted in other comments) or Batman Begins. The exploding house at the end was not explained well and as a result seemed a bit silly. The Aston sequence at the start seemed done just to have an Aston sequence.
The Good: Beautiful cinematography in the non-action sequences. Craig IS Bond. Dench is the best M in the Bond series. The Bond girl was solid, tough and human.
Best of all was the heavy emphasis on character development. Some reviews have complained of too little, but IMO that is probably because our TV/Film viewing minds have been so numbed by banal dialogue in TV and films that we can't read a more toned down but visual medium, and get completely lost if we have to read between the lines, especially in an action film. Happily, this film decides not to treat the audience at morons and we benefit from that by getting a nice, visual film that is low on unnecessary dialogue yet furthers Bonds character quite a bit and the franchise is stronger for it.
A solid 8/10
Casino Royale (2006)
One of the best Bond films, one of the best Bonds
I remember reading Casino Royale many years ago and thinking how brutal it was, glad to see the harshness was kept. I knew I was in for a different type of Bond film from the first sequence where he tries to drown an enemy agent in a public bathroom sink (after they smash up the whole room in a massive fight)
Daniel Craig may possibly be the best Bond yet (although Connery is pretty much untouchable for sheer coolness) and is also a pretty believable actor, both as a badass as well as showing his softer side.
The bond chick, Eva Green is also excellent, actually an actress as well as a pretty face and her character is realistic (as well as her dilemma and subsequent actions) a real upgrade from joke characters like dr. Christmas Jones.
It is probably not necessary to praise Judi Dench but I will! Dame Judi is in my opinion easily the best M ever, giving the role real weight and making M look like someone to be reckoned with. She is just so much more subtle than most of her predecessors.
The whole movie was well done with none of those superman sequences that have made the last few films a bit too much like an MTV music video. Also the lack of obvious CGI, slow motion fight scenes and wire stunts was oh so refreshing.
Here's hoping that the next one will be as good!
Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy (2001)
Interesting film, far surpassing Sex:Annabel Chong and Girl next door....
Pornstar premiered in Iceland on the 24th of October 2002 (sponsored by a film club trying to promote "different" films). What´s more, Ron Jeremy himself made his way to Iceland to attend the event, answering questions from the audience and taking the time to meet anybody who wished it. The film was shown in the nations largest movie theater, seating 1000, and was sold out a week in advance! So how was the film itself? Well, pretty good actually. Enjoyable fun, showing Ron Jeremy as a person, often not flattering, but seeming all the more real for it. We see a man who is happy to do what he does, but not quite satisfied by it.
The film was in all respects a more enjoyable watch than both "Sex: the Annabel Chong story" and "Girl next door" with Stacy Valentine. Both aforementioned films try to glorify the industry, and the persons represented in the films. Although Pornstar seems to be in part a tribute to Ron Jeremy, it does not glorify him as a pornstar, but rather as a regular joe (which is of course part of his appeal). Some parts of the film could have been edited, as it lost its pace around three quarters through, and more attention could have been given to Ron´s "legit" film appearances. Apart from those minor niggles, quite enjoyable, funny and shows Ron Jeremy as a insecure man with a HUGE need for attention. Best of all, he signed my favourite t-shirt ;)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Pure magic
As faithful to the book as a movie can hope to be. Peter Jackson shows he is truly a master of the silver screen, captivating the audience with this wonderful tapestry of light sound and feeling woven on the medium of cellulose. Magic
Tale of a Vampire (1992)
Character driven vampire film, not much action
Best vampire movie I have seen in a long time.
I have many vampire films and quite enjoy the genre. Unfortunately most vampire (or horror, for that matter) films go for action and gore instead of more subtle approaches. Which is where this film really shines. Slow and Plot-Driven would be the keywords for this film, as there is not much violence and the gore that is included is merely there so we can see the main character for the monster he is, as well is his human side, for the added contrast.
The performances by the actors are on the whole good, the settings are truly excellent and ambient light and sounds are used with great attention and a certain amount of style, and create exactly the right atmosphere at each moment. One such instant would be every time the vampire (Sands) is in a dark scene with another character, nice use of lighting to show his heightened senses. The script is also solid, with good dialogue and character development.
I can understand those who dislike the film, though. It IS slow, and for those who just meant to grab a quick and violent vampire flick, this is not the right movie. On the other hand, if you enjoy the vampire mythos and would like to see a film driven by characters and a good script (as opposed to ultraviolence to a frantic techno beat) then this film is for you.
The lack of huge fangs was also a nice change, this vampire is mostly human, and the eroticism of the vampire legend is not lost in this film, and believably carried by the actors.
Highly recommended (for the right audience)